Kerry went to the Middle East yesterday for a 13 day "fact-finding" trip.

[Pirate Smile]

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/kerry/articles/2005/01/04/kerrys_skills_on_display_in_mideast_trip/

Senator John F. Kerry is reemerging on the public stage this week with a 13-day fact-finding trip through the Middle East, which supporters say shows that the Massachusetts Democrat is determined to maintain a high profile after his losing presidential campaign.

"He intends to play a prominent role in foreign and domestic policy, and this is clear evidence of this," said Philip W. Johnston, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party. "The fact that his first major public outing following the election relates to Iraq and foreign policy tells us that he intends to be a strong spokesperson on those issues."

Kerry arrived in Amman, Jordan, yesterday and has planned a hectic itinerary, with stops scheduled in Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Egypt, Israel, and the West Bank. He has meetings set up with a wide range of specialists, local leaders, and military commanders, as well as troops from Massachusetts, said April Boyd, a Kerry spokeswoman.

-snip-

Kerry is the only elected official on his trip, and he is making an unusual number of stops in the Middle East, suggesting that he wants to go beyond the sometimes-scripted events planned by the Bush administration. Foreign trips are fairly typical for members of Congress -- a large number of House and Senate members are making trips to Iraq in the run-up to the Jan. 30 elections there -- but Kerry insisted on charting his own course for his trip. He is making stops in Israel and its occupied territories, as well as other Middle Eastern nations.

[ginnyinWI]

1. good news

It looks like John Kerry is going to keep on being John Kerry, and not let the election slow him down. I am proud of him; he's still my hero.

[angrydemocrat]

2. Amen!

I knew my hero wounldn't let nobody stop him. He will be front and center and as I have been saying "John Kerry and the Kerrycrats are Reporting for Duty!"

[whometense]

3. Also, from one of the Boston Herald clones

this actually quite positive piece: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/opinion/view.bg?articleid=86708

I like this part:

"I'm not going to lick my wounds or hide under a rock or disappear. I'm going to learn," Kerry told Newsweek. "I've had disappointments and I've learned to cope. I've lost friends, a marriage: I've lost things in life."

Such feistiness is a good sign. Four years ago, Al Gore suffered an even more traumatic loss to George W. Bush and immediately withdrew from public life. He traveled, he taught, he grew a beard. Gore may have been driven undercover by personal pain or he may have felt lowering his profile would help the country heal. But the result was he gave Bush an open field, and the Republicans ran all over the leaderless Democrats.

[Der Blaue Engel]

4. Just what I'd expect him to do

At the beginning of his first term as President. :D

[ginnyinWI]

5. you make a good point, blue angel

he still has the power, as a long-standing senator, to do many many good things, just as he has always done in the Senate. He can now act as a shadow president, inspiring and leading the Dems in DC and all the rest of us. God, it's been so long since we've had a real president--a leader with integrity--that maybe those Dems who step forward now will shine all the brighter by contrast.



:pals:

[angrydemocrat]

6. I Agree

And he does have the power although many don't believe that. But I for one know he does and know what he is capable of doing and will back him all the way. It will be very interesting to watch. As I told someone in another thread daytime soaps better find another slot because Americans will be tuning in to the real drama live from the U.S. Senate!

[ginnyinWI]

8. headline:

"Un-President Kerry Does Better Job Leading Country Than President in 2005"

:) ;)

[LittleClarkie]

7. Right then, off to start prayer thread in main group

Just as I said I would.

Some will pray, some will bash. Que sera, sera.